Small Distractions

I'm currently working on my finally exam project and after spending the past two hours slowly ploughing my way through a book on using storytelling as a branding tool, I felt the need for a small distraction. A link I came across on Twitter took me to a website where you can measure how fast you type. And the results are (drum roll please)

When typing in English:

57 words

Typing Test

and...
when typing in Danish:

51 ord

Speed test

I'm pretty impressed with that result, although I don't suppose that I could keep it up for very long. Now back to work...

Lessons in After Effects

This week, my class had some introductory classes in Adobe After Effects. Mainly, we learnt about the basic functions of the programme and how to use it to make short video clips. The teacher would demonstrate some new techniques which we would then experiment with individually. As we aren't currently working on an assignment, it was suggested that we use the lessons to create a short video portfolio displaying a selection of our work. This is what I created:




A couple of weeks ago we also had some lessons in Flash, which was a lot of fun, but generally speaking I found After Effects much easier to work with. There are so many little details that you need to remember when working in Flash that After Effects just takes care of for you. I had a lot of fun this week whilst making this video and I'm really looking to working with After Effects again in the near future.

Type tips for webdesign

About a year ago we had some introductory classes in correct typographic practices, a lesson which I am convinced was intended to be excessively dull and yet somehow managed to catch my interest. The reason for my intrigue, I believe, is related to the fact that there are few people who are aware of these practices. I'm not talking about choosing a font, or deciding what point size and leading to use—obviously these are significant changes to make that are easily noticeable. No, what I'm referring to are the finer details of typography, for example when to make spacial adjustments for punctuation marks, or whether to use an em-dash, en-dash or a hyphen. It is a task that is both time-consuming and tedious, and yet there is a sense of satisfaction to be had from the knowledge that these tiny, almost imperceptible adjustments will result in a text that is easier on the eye, both in terms of legibility and overall beauty.

Following the classes I went out and bought the book our teacher recommended to us on the subject, “Typography Workbook—A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design” by Timothy Samara, which I promptly devoured. Since then I have gradually started to pay more and more attention to typography, both in my own designs and in those of others.

However, whilst I have been focusing on re-designing my online portfolio over the past few weeks, I have started to realise that typography in print and typography on the web are two completely different ball-games. For one, although getting a text to look right on paper is a slow process, at least you can relax in the knowledge that, when you've finished, the glyphs will have the decency to stay where you put them (that is, assuming that you don't forget to outline your text before sending the files to the printer). The internet, however, offers no such guarantees and I have been quietly pondering how to ensure that the text on my portfolio displays as I want it to. You can imagine my delight then, when I opened my inbox this afternoon to find the first issue of the Smashing Magazine newsletter sitting there containing a link to the article “Typography Quick Tips” by Harry Roberts of @csswizardry, which turned out to be an excellent guide to creating beautiful typography on the web. Thanks Harry, and thanks Smashing Magazine for the first newsletter.

Introducing me and my blog

Hi! My name is Jo Sturgess, I'm 26, originally from the UK but currently living and studying in Denmark. In June I will be graduating from University College Nordjylland with an AP degree in graphic design technology, following which my goal is to find a full-time job as a graphic designer within a design agency.
In this blog I will be talking about what I am working on, what I am learning, the problems I come across, things that inspire me, and whatever else takes my fancy...
I look forward to receiving your comments, advise, constructive criticism and suggestions.